April 25, 2020
Edith is still grieving the death of her well known, mobster husband Mickey. She needs a break, a change of scene and heads from Philly, to the warmth of the Florida coast line. Her girlfriends meet up with her, and try to get her mind off of the last six months. But Edith is still restless, she needs something in her life.
Her first day there, there’s commotion down on the waterfront. Boats, speed, guns, and illegal liquor. She is immediately sucked back into memories of what life was like with Mickey. But she also realizes, that she misses that thrill, the excitement. The girls take a day, and visit a well known restaurant, that attracts the most popular and Edith gets an idea. She was the brains behind a lot of Mickey’s business, why couldn’t see run a place down here? Start anew, fresh and make something of herself. Make Mickey proud.
With the help of Mae, Al Capone’s wife, Edith and her find a small joint. It’s in quite disrepair but Edith sees the possibility and her heart is set. No one is going to change her mind. Edith runs into issues right away. First, she’s a woman. Second, people know what she has in mind with this place. Third, she’s an outsider now creeping in on the other businesses in the area. Edith, resilient and not afraid to back down fights every step of the way, but soon the place is ready to be opened.
Even after proving she is a woman of her word, and will do what it takes to get things done. She still has a target on her back, and many are still not happy that she is still in town. With the help from a local boy, Leroy who shows up in her barn, and Darwin, a favor she called in from an old friend, Gator Joe’s is open for business and she is not going anywhere.
Just when she thinks she has proven herself, and that maybe things can be normal, her hard work goes up in flames. Someone is still not happy that she is in town, and has made a name for herself and Gator Joe’s. Has she really been defeated, finally. Is this the last straw?
This was an interesting read about bootlegging liquor on the coast. I’ve not read about this before and it was also interesting to read about the wives of these mobsters. Not much was ever said about them, and usually they were just seen, but it seems they may have been more brains behind the operations than what was thought. This was a good thriller of a novel and I am curious to see what happens next with Edith, Leroy, Darwin and Lucky Ling.
Thank you to HFVBT and the author for the book to read and review. I will be looking forward to getting and reading the other Rum Runners’ Chronicles, I have to know what happens next, as this book did leave off at a bit of a cliff hanger!
To read more reviews by Chelsie at Reading Is My Remedy book blog, click here.